ShareLittle Mix performing their Summer Shout Out Tour at Donington Park Racecourse Leicestershire on Saturday 1st July 2017.
Review by Kevin Cooper
It was a packed crowd at Castle Donington that welcomed Little Mix last night after being entertained with some family friendly indie from Sheppard and a fabulous upbeat performance from Ella Eyre who showed off her amazing vocal talents with dance songs such as Gravity, If I Go and the newly released Came Here For love.
Performing as part of their open air Summer Shout Out Tour it is six years since Little Mix were the first group to win the X Factor, and five years since they released their debut album, DNA. And judging by the crowd a decent portion of their current fans may have been born shortly after their victory on live TV because it was surprising just how young this audience was. There were lots of teeny tiny Little Mix wannabees, aged four and upwards, towing parents behind them; plenty of teenage girls together with some diehard fans.
So when Perrie Edwards, Jade Thirwall, Jesy Nelson and Leigh-Anne Pinnock came onto the stage, if there had been a roof, it would have been well and truly blown off with the fans excitement levels. With a reputation for wearing very daring on stage outfits, they did not disappoint with their racing flag ensemble which was very fitting for the setting.
Opening with Power, their huge pop bangers which were well served by choreography that appeared to be exclusively hair flicked based. Things did get a little raunchier on Salute with their gyrating male backing singers, before they showed off their harmonising skills with several a capella interludes. They were sassy and confident, particularly so on one of their best received songs, Wings, as streamers filled the sky.
There were fans favourites such as Black Magic and Touch, and slower songs such as F.U. a lovely break up ballad and Secret Love Song which featured an amazing solo by Edwards. Down And Dirty hopefully went over the heads of the youngsters but was lapped up by everyone else.
This was a no frills affair, with no backing band, just the dancers and a big screen behind them which played videos of the four band members, singing and dancing in a studio. Aside from a brief flash of pyrotechnics and that streamers movement, there was little in the way of spectacle. But this is a band for many who can do no wrong and they didn’t seem to mind one bit.
Ending the show with the rousing self penned Shout Out To Your Ex, it probably left everyone in the audience hoarse, but it was a fitting finale to a fun evening that saw a near stampede in an attempt to grab just a strand of streamer to take home as a souvenir.
